Sarah Palin's pick for AK's Attorney General: “If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?” Part 2

By GottaLaff

I got a huge response to this post:

Sarah Palin's pick for Alaska's Attorney General: “If a guy can’t rape his wife…who’s he gonna rape?”

In that post, I linked to Wayne Anthony Ross's response to Leah Burton's testimony about Palin's terrible Attorney General pick. But this is far from over. Check this out (I strongly suggest you follow the link to read the entire letter), via the wonderfully astute and very thorough Shannyn Moore:

From Leah Burton’s Dad:

Mr. Ross,

You may or may not remember the times when we met but I remember you very vividly. The purpose of this communication is over concern for my daughter first and your attempt to be confirmed as the Attorney General, a job for which I know you had long aspirations, as well as thinking you could be the Commissioner of Health and Social Services or the Commissioner of Public Safety, none of which you are qualified for.

I was told today that you deny knowing or associating with the Mad Dads group in Wasilla. Surely records of filings in the court must still be available so that you can produce proof of who you clients were. This, is the same group that my daughter witnessed you addressing and making sexist and demeaning comments in reference to spousal rape and domestic violence, which as I see it means physical abuse of the spouse by the husband. Considering the group to which you were speaking that is the only logical conclusion one could draw from such remarks. I’m also assuming that you may have made these remarks in order to appear as a macho man in front of such a gathering. First of all, I want to caution you on what you say but can’t prove and to advise you that if this kind of slander and attacks on my daughter continue you may well meet a real attorney that knows how to win.

In over 30 years in law enforcement in Alaska, as a police advisor for the U.S State Dept and the Dept of justice, I have met and worked with many quality professionals in the field and let me say that you do not rank among this group. I worked the street as a young patrol officer starting in Ketchikan in 1954, joined the Alaska State Police in 1959 and ended my career by serving two separate terms as Commissioner of Public Safety for the 2 best Governor’s in Alaska, Jay Hammond and Wally Hickel. (In the interest of brevity I will attach my resume for you perusal as I want to establish my bona fides for the remarks I am about to make).

You sir, speak and act like the kind of bully I met many times when responding to domestic violence calls, some of the most dangerous situations police officers are often in. Over the years I brought many an abused spouse and/or children to my own home for my wife to care for, because there was no place else to take them. [...]

Contrary to what you recently told the Judiciary Committee about the Child Welfare workers being hell bent on taking kids away from their families my personal experience was just the opposite. I had to take many children into protective custody,. and even in the most dangerous of situations the welfare workers attitude was that a child was always better off staying with their natural parents regardless of the circumstances. Not a decision that I could always agree with. Therefore I am totally surprised as your comments and I challenge you to provide actual proof that supports that allegation.

[...] The bottom line in this case we found that children were being left in home circumstances in many cases when the right thing to do would have been removal. This resulted in changes of the child protection statutes and policies of the agencies concerned which also included the relationship between children and adult probation sharing of information.

The only conclusion I have been able to come to concerning your remarks about the “frightening” case works is that you really don’t know what you are talking about and are just talking to try to impress someone that you may have an some knowledge about the subject.

In light of the strong reaction from the native and rural communities of the state and your obvious position and bias relative to domestic and children’s issues I find it hard to believe that you could be in charge of the department that is charged with enforcing laws in an impartial or effective manner. I think you should do the state a favor and withdraw your name from confirmation.

Richard L Burton

Commissioner of Public Safety (retired)

RESPONSE BY WAYNE ANTHONY ROSS:

Dick: Thanks for writing. I’ll pray for you and for your daughter. Sounds like both of you have problems. My best to you old friend, WAR

Flippant much, WAR? And where in your response letter did you deny or defend anything that Mr. Burton said about you?

Oh, that's right, nowhere. We'll pray for you (even us atheist commies). Sounds like you have problems.

[Laffy Note: Shannyn has appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show and Countdown (if I'm not mistaken), among others. She's a credible, thorough liberal commentator, observer, radio personality, and activist. Go here to read more about her.]